Transformers fan and novelist Bill Ray makes his TF Radio debut on the RFC Mini-cast. John DeLuna and Bill trace their collecting lives from the Marvel comic and G1 toys to Beast Wars, early online fandom, and the end of BotCon. They close on the collapse of Toys R Us and what fewer toy retailers could mean for collector exclusives.
First Transformers Memories
Bill’s first Transformers memory is finding issue #1 of the Marvel comic in his grocery store’s cereal aisle. The first toy he bought with his own saved money was Gears, which he thought was the coolest minibot. Bill was 10 when the line launched, the exact target age, and says his mother had a knack for finding hard-to-get toys, including Omega Supreme. John’s earliest memory is opening Soundwave around age four. The two also recall the Transformers versus Go-Bots schoolyard rivalry.
From Beast Wars Back Into Collecting
Bill kept his toys longer than his friends. In high school, the Transformers: The Movie soundtrack CD helped pull a classmate back into the hobby; that friend went on to work on Fun Publications stories, including the Shattered Glass concept. Years later, Beast Wars drew Bill back during law school. He bought Transmetal Megatron and Transmetal Optimus Primal, then hunted Toys R Us daily for Rampage after the Protoform X episode aired months before the toy. After school he bought Japanese exclusives like Overlord, Star Convoy and Road Caesar on early eBay. John recalls the era of IRC and alt.toys.transformers, when small online shops sold loose G1 combiners, Omega Supremes and complete Jetfires at reasonable prices.
Life After BotCon
Bill misses BotCon as the one big official convention, especially Hasbro’s designer panels. Still, he says other Transformers conventions like TFCon have softened the loss. John feels conventions now have a smaller, more communal feel again, though more polished than early BotCons. Both welcome a more diverse fandom, citing a plush Transformers booth at TFCon and more female and younger fans, which John credits partly to IDW’s comics.
The Fall of Toys R Us
John recalls Aaron Archer discussing Toys R Us at a TFCon panel, calling it one of three major toy retailers alongside Walmart and Target. Bill explains how the leveraged buyout loaded Toys R Us with about $5 billion in debt, so its profits went to interest. His concern for collectors is that if Walmart, Target and Amazon absorb the market, retailer exclusives will disappear rather than spread. He hopes mid-sized competitors, perhaps a revived KB Toys, fill the gap. John cites reports of over $400 million a year in debt payments. The episode was recorded the Thursday liquidation discounts began. [Source: WTKR]
Bill writes fantasy novels as William Ray, starting with Gedlund, a steampunk fantasy, and is on Twitter as VerinEmpire.
Contributors: John DeLuna, Bill Ray (guest)
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